
Class 

Book ____ 



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A GREAT MAN FALLEN! 
j± DISCOURSE 



ON THE DEATH OF 



Abraham Lincoln. 



Rev. WILBUR F. PADDOCK. 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN! 



A DISCOURSE 



Death of Abraham Lincoln. 



DELIVERED IN 



£t. gMflr*w'$ <&\mn\t, iMMtfjrttfe, 



SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 23, 1865. 




Rev. WILBUR F. PADDOCK. 

it 



PHILADELPHIA: 

SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 
1865. 



" 



Tins Discourse rs published at the request of Governor PICK- 
ering, senator avllliams, and othebs of the funeral escobl 
of Presideni Lincoln, who webe pbesent at the time of its 

DEL] VERY. 



DISCOURSE. 



2 Samuel 3 : 34, 38. 
" Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as 
a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. and 
all the people wept again oyer him. and the king said 
unto his servants, know ye nqt that there is a prince and 
a great man fallen ?" 

A great leader and a brave man had fallen in Israel. 
Not in battle, not by disease, not by the hands of the 
ministers of justice in satisfaction to violated law, but 
by the hand of an assassin, — a deed treacherously, cow- 
ardly, infamously and unsuspectedly committed. In 
the gate at Hebron, the place of judgment and the 
place of concourse, in defiance of the laws of God 
and man, Joab, openly before the people, imbrues 
his hands in the blood of Abner, whom he from 
jealousy feared, and towards whom he entertained 
the bitterest feelings of revenge. " And David said 
to Joab and to all the people that were with him, 
Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and 
mourn before Abner. And King David himself fol- 
lowed the bier. And they buried Abner in Hebron ; 
and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave 



4 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

of Abner; and all the people wept. And the king 
lamented over Abner and said, Died Abner as the 
fool dieth \ Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet 
put into fetters. As a man falleth before wicked men, 
so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over 
him And the king said unto his servants, Know ye 
not that there is a prince and a great man Men this 
day in Israel \ And I am this day weak, though an- 
ointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, be 
too hard for me. The Lord shall reward the doer of 
evil according to his wickedness." 

How striking in many respects, the parallel between 
this deed of blood and that committed but little more 
than a week ago in our national capitol A prince 
and a great man then feU by the hand of an assassin; 

onsuspectedly, cowardly, cruelly murdered in the place 
of concourse before the eyes of thousands, in defiance 

ofthelawsofGodandman. The deed itself spoke in 
thunder tones to the hearts of the people. It needed 
U()t t hai Executive authority should caU upon the na- 
tion togird itself iu sackcloth and mourn before its 

fallen friend, benefactor and ruler. Scarce had the 
te^bk tidings flown upon the lightning's wing through 

the loyal States, when, from millions of stricken hearto 
therewenf up to Heaven a bitter cry of anguish,-the 
liltltul moan of a crushed and bereaved people, rhe 
wh ole land, just before revelling in excess of jo) over 
impaxa lleled military success, glowing with bright 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 5 

hopes and brilliant revelations of restored peace and 
prosperity, was suddenly plunged into the very depths 
of woe. The sombre hue of death everywhere visible, 
and the varied language of mourning, told how uni- 
versal and how great was the grief of the people. 
The angels of sorrow stretched a pall of darkness and 
gloom over the whole land. In every house there was, 
as it were, one dead ; and that one — a father. 

Twice, my friends, since this awful crime was com- 
mitted, have we assembled in this church. Upon Easter 
Day we sought to catch the spirit of the service and 
ascend gladly in our hearts to the risen and glorified 
Saviour. We sought to meditate upon the precious 
hopes given us and the triumph achieved for us in His 
resurrection. But how sad and fruitless all our efforts. 
A great woe pressed heavily upon our hearts. Easter 
joys were turned into mourning, songs of thankfulness 
into notes of sadness and bereavement. Our thoughts 
and feelings would not but flow mournfully through the 
dark valley of affliction into which we had been called 
as a nation to enter. We could not, from very weep- 
ing, sing the songs of Zion. 

Wednesday's solemn service brought with it the 
same deep impressions of the great and terrible loss 
we had sustained. We gathered in spirit around the 
cold and lifeless form of our martyr President, and 
paid, with distressed and weeping hearts, like offices 
with those which were being at the same hour per- 



b A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

formed over his remains in Washington. We then 
realized as never before that our truthful, loving, and 
noble-hearted friend and benefactor had gone. Xo 
words could add solemnity or effect to those funeral 
services under the powerful impression of this con- 
viction. 

To-day, we are again assembled, and the same sub- 
ject is occupying our minds and moving the deepest 
emotions of our hearts. There is no possibility of 
escaping it. Nor, dear friends, would we if we could, 
until it shall produce the result God designed it to ac- 
complish in the gracious orderings of this most myste- 
rious providence. A blow so heavy, so sudden, so 
momentous in its consequences, is not easily to be re- 
covered from, or soon to be forgotten. To-day, the 
great and noble dead is in our midst; and every 
Church assemblage and every heart in this vast city 
feel the influence of that presence. Meet was it. that 
the noblest, the greatest, and the best of all the mar- 
t \ rs, who have been sacrificed upon the altar of liberty 
since the birth of this nation, should upon this, the 
last Sabbath before his sepulture, lie in state in the 
hall where Libert) was cradled, and in which were first 
authoritatively uttered those great principles of human 
freedom, equality and constitutional law, in the de- 
fence of which he died.* His lifeless and unit ilated 



* The remains of President Lincoln were placed in Independence Hall, 
daj evening, April 22, and remained there exposed i" \i«-w until 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 7 

body calls upon us for a more extended notice of his 
character and services than' in this church has hereto- 
fore been given; and in so doing, I shall not, I am 
assured, do violence to the proprieties of time and 
place, or go counter to your just expectations and the 
demands of the present occasion. 

I purpose, this morning, to show, first of all, the true 
greatness of him whom the nation now mourns and 
seeks to honor ; second, to discover, if possible, the 
culprit by whose hand he fell ; and third, to indicate 
the manner in which his death may best be avenged, 
and our great and irreparable loss be made a blessing 
to ourselves and to our country. We must speak 
briefly upon each of these points, and cannot, therefore, 
do more than present a faint outline of the virtues and 
excellences of the illustrious dead, trusting that the 

the following Monday morning. The head of the deceased was towards 
the pedestal upon which rests the old State House bell, which first pealed 
liberty throughout the land. The four walls of the hall were tapestried 
with serge. The pictures which the heavy serge festoons were allowed 
to reveal were six in number, and not inappropriate silent watchers of 
the dead. Upon the coflin was placed a beautiful cross, composed of 
perfectly white flowers of the choicest kinds. A card attached was in- 
scribed as follows : 

"A tribute to our great and good President, fallen a- martyr in the 
cause of human freedom. 

" In my hand no price I bring, 
Simply to Thy cross I cling." 

Extract from Daily Paper. 



8 A GREAT MAN FALLEN - . 

perfectness and moral grandeur of his character, may 
at least, not suffer in your estimation by this ne- 
cessarily imperfect presentation. 

I. Consider then, how great Abraham Lincoln was, 
first, in his devotion to truth. It is said of him as 
of the immortal Washington, that he never told a lie. 
From the age of twenty-five to the time of his death, he 
was more or less in political life, and under its corrupt- 
ing influences; and yet so sacredly did he hold to the 
inviolability of oaths, to the sanctity of plighted word, 
and to the great value and necessity of strict veracity 
in statement and conduct, that his bitterest enemies 
have not been able to convict him of a single falsehood, 
or prove upon him a single charge of fraud, of intrigue 
or of deceit. He had an instinctive love of truth. — 
truth in word, in principle, in belief, and in practice, — 
that caused him, no matter what the consequences 
might be to himself, to do and say, when duty demanded, 
what he thought and felt and believed. He was in- 
capable of acting a part, and careful that he might not 
be deceived by others. No labor was too great, no 
[tress 1 1 re of business SO severe, as to prevent him from 
learning, if possible, the t ruth of every case presented 
to him. 

He was honest with himself, and honest in his deal- 
ings with others. It shone forth from earliest years. 
\\ hen a mere child, he labored t « > r two days to pay for 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 9 

a borrowed book, which he promptly confessed had 
been by his own carelessness destroyed. Veracity and 
strict integrity marked all his boyhood plays, bargains 
and engagements. 

In after life, this fidelity to truth in word, in prin- 
ciple and in conduct, was marvellously manifested. 
History furnishes no parallel of devotion so constant 
and unswerving, — under a combination of circum- 
stances so powerfully arrayed in opposition, — as distin- 
guished him during his entire Presidential career. In 
the midst of plots and counterplots ; amid the fluctua- 
tions of opinion and the surging waves of intense feel- 
ing over different lines of policy ; at one time basely 
attacked by bitter enemies; at another, made the 
subject of satire, ridicule, or unjust criticism; at 
another, still, brought under the blandishments and 
seductive influences of greedy politicians, unwise 
friends, or base pretenders — now contending with 
factious elements at home, and now with intriguing 
or hostile cabinets abroad— firmly relying upon the 
invincibility of his principles, the correctness of his 
opinions, the rightfulness of his position, and the 
integrity of his purpose, like a rock he stood cou- 
rageously and heroically beating back every wave, 
resisting every encroachment, withstanding every se- 
ductive influence; unmoved alike by blame or praise r 
bribes or threats, reproach, contempt, cajolery, or base 



10 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

insinuations, — true to himself, true to his principles, 
true to his country, and true to his God. Oh, how 
noble such an exhibition of character! How rarely is 
it seen in the history of public men. 

But again, the greatness of Abraham Lincoln was 
manifested in his devotion to the rights of humanity, 
and his sympathy with his race. We see him at the 
very beginning of his legal career, in the face of bitter 
prejudice and an intense feeling of revenge on the 
part of the community, defending the life of the son 
of a poor widow, charged with the crime of murder. 
Volunteering his services without a thought of reward, 
he rested not day nor night until the tangled and de- 
ceptive web of circumstance was completely unravelled, 
the malicious falsehoods of witnesses disproved, the 
innocence of the prisoner established, and light and 
life and joy could again visit the home of the widow 
and the fatherless. And then, not selfishly elated by 
liis success, indeed scarcely conscious, so great was the 
simplicity and humility of his heart, of the proud dis- 
tinction his talents had won for him in triumphing 
over prejudice, hostility and wrong, regardless of 
needed rest or of the praise that awaited his presence 
among his associates, in the greatness of his disinte- 
rested devotion to the suffering, the neglected and the 
d< famed, lie remembers only their needs, and lets the 

sim of that eventful day go down upon him adminis- 

tering to their wants. Ami this was the spirit he ever 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 11 

manifested. No thought of self, no concern for his 
own fame, no feeling of personal pride, no expressions 
of triumph in the hour of success, ever disturbed his 
heart, or passed his lips so far as we are able to 
learn, throughout the whole period of his marvel- 
lous history. Whether receiving the plaudits of a 
country court for a successful defence, or the homage 
and praise of millions in this and other lands, for the 
liberation of a long-oppressed race and the preserva- 
tion of the nation's life, he was the same modest, self- 
forgetting, unelated man. 

This remarkable freedom from every form of preten- 
sion, from self-commendation, and from all feelings of 
exultation over the defeat of others or his own success, 
arose not only from the native simplicity and gene- 
rosity and divinely implanted humility of his heart, 
and the singular mastery he exercised over the varied 
impulses and passions of his nature, but, also, was 
largely the result of his intense devotion to the right, 
and whole-souled sympathy for the distressed, the 
needy and the wronged; causing him entirely to lose 
sight of selfish considerations, and in all his legal and 
political successes to be absorbed in the contempla- 
tion of truth vindicated, the right maintained, justice 
honored, the bounds of liberty enlarged, and the op- 
pressed and afflicted blessed. Oh how grandly his 
whole heart went forth in sympathy for all his race, and 
how earnestly, faithfully and untiringly, did he labor in 



12 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

its behalf. It was not the white man, or the red man, or 
the black man, that he saw. It was humanity, suffering 
and needy, and down-trodden. It was not numbers, 
rank, wealth or position, that chiefly secured his atten- 
tion, or obtained his most ready aid. The wife of the 
poor soldier starving in the infamous prisons of the 
South, or the widowed mother of a son who had fallen 
in battle, received from him equal attention with the 
noblest, the richest and the most exalted that passed 
the threshold of the Executive mansion. We see him 
at one time, with his own hands binding up the wounds 
of some suffering hero in the hospital; at another, 
riding ten miles to carry a reprieve to a poor soldier 
boy, who has been sentenced to death for sleeping upon 
his post; at another still, patiently listening to the 
story, and granting the request of a weeping servant 
girl, whose brother for desertion has been sent to the 
Dry Tortugas for punishment; and, we say, is this 
the Chief Magistrate of this great nation'? Can lie, 
who is engaged in such lowly offices, really be the 
one to whom is intrusted the fete of millions, who 
bears the weight of empire upon his shoulders, who 

(Lily decides great questions of state, and by his wise 

and far-seeing policy, and masterly direction of affairs, 

i^ largely shaping the future of other nations as well as 

, our n\\ )i j 

\ i 9, even BO. With Abraham Lincoln nothing was 

small or unimportant which his Bense of justice and 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 13 

kind heart told him ought to be done ; and nothing 
for the amelioration and elevation of his race was too 
great or too difficult for him to undertake to do that 
demanded of him the effort. In speaking to a friend 
of his Proclamation of Emancipation he said, "I did 
not think the people had been educated up to it, yet 
I thought it right to issue it, and I trusted in God 
and did it." How heroically grand this sentiment! 
"What expresses more perfectly the whole theory and 
practice of his life ! What sentence more worthy to 
be written in gold, and claimed by every true man as 
the history of every truly great act 1 " / thought it 
right; I trusted in God; I did it" Few, comparatively, 
approved of his course at that time ; but he hesitated 
not. Misrepresentations, censure and abuse were of 
little consequence to him, so long as he knew his mo- 
tives were pure, the end he had in view right, and his 
course in accordance with the great principles of justice 
and humanity. He proclaimed liberty to the slave, 
and trusted in God that the victory which he sought 
to win over the prejudices of the people and the past 
policy of the nation might be crowned ultimately with 
success, both in the complete overthrow of the in- 
fluence of slavery in the North, and in the practical 
liberation of an entire race from its thraldom in the 
South. The wisdom of his course has been clearly 
demonstrated by the progress of events. Thank God 
that he lived to see his views and his efforts sustained 



14 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

by the great body of the people of this land; and to 
behold the dawn of a new era of privilege and bless- 
ing to the oppressed race, which, in the midst of peril 
and difficulty, he stretched forth his brave hand to 
save. 

Never had humanity a more faithful, devoted and 
self-sacrificing friend. The principles of human 
liberty he enunciated, and the blows he dealt to 
tyranny, oppression and wrong, are felt the world 
over. The simple, unpretending man, whose body 
now lies in yonder State House, has made the mo- 
narchs of Europe tremble upon their thrones, and 
sent joy and the assurance of ultimate freedom to 
every bondman who has been able to spell out his 
name and heard of his glorious deeds ; and they will 
weep, too, as we to-day weep, over the cruel act that 
stilled the throbbings of his noble heart, and closed 
in violence and blood his earthly career. 

Abraham Lincoln was great yet again, in his </> w> 
tion to his country. No testimony of mine; 1 am Bure, 
is needed to strengthen your convictions of the truth 
of this statement. His whole history, before as well 
as after bis elevation to the chief office of authority in 

this nation, is in every part of it proof conclusive of 

his entire single-hearted devotion to the Land of his 

birth. An intense, all-eoinprehensive patriotism, as 
has been said, was the constant stimulus of all his 

public exertions. It grew into the very constitution 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 15 

of his soul, and operated like a natural function, 
continuously, spontaneously, and almost as it were, 
unconsciously. It pervaded and vivified all that he 
said and formed the prime incentive of all that he 
did. If he had ambition, it was to serve his country, 
and in that sphere where he might do it most effectu- 
ally. In no way did he ever fail his country in the 
time of need. A public trust was to him a sacred 
thing. Sublimer moral courage, more resolute devo- 
tion to duty, cannot be found in the history of man 
than he has displayed for the salvation of the American 
Union. It was the sublime performance of sublime 
duties that made him so trusted, and which has given 
him a fame as solid as justice, and as genuine as 
truth. 

And yet, once more. Chief above all things else, 
Abraham Lincoln was- to the Christian heart mani- 
festly great in his devotion to his God. Whatever 
other elements may enter into the composition of a 
great character, this undoubtedly is the noblest and 
the best. And this especially distinguished him 
whom the nation now mourns. Religion shed its 
pure and hallowed influence over his life. It pre- 
served him from those vices which too often disgrace 
men in place and power. It made him a pattern of 
goodness even to those who made greater professions. 
It opened fountains of comfort,, encouragement and 
support to his soul, and gave him that grand and 



16 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

abiding trust in the final overthrow of the rebellion, 
which, amid all the vicissitudes and varied fortune 
which attended our arms never wavered, and enabled 
him to guide, with a firm and steady hand, the desti- 
nies of this great people. When he left his home in 
Springfield to assume, for the first time, his great and 
responsible duties, he declared that he humbly leaned 
upon Divine guidance and mercy. This was the key- 
note of all his after declarations. Faith in God was 
his pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. 
It supplied him with comfort and peace in the midst 
of family bereavement. It guided him safely through 
the wilderness of perplexing doubts and discourage- 
ments that he was called upon to enter, in leading this 
people up to a higher standard of duty, and to the pos- 
Si ^ion of greater privileges and blessings. It inspired 
him with calm and cheering hope in the darkest days of 
this rebellion, when other hearts were inclined to des- 
pondency and gloom. "Gentlemen," said lie to a com- 
pany of clergymen who were paying their respects to 
him, "my hope of success in this great and terrible 
Btruggle rests on that immutable foundation, the jus- 
tice and goodness of God. And when events are very 
threatening, and prospects very dark, 1 still hope that 
in some way which man cannot see, all will be well in 

the end; because our cause is just, and God is on our 

side." And so again, when the rebel ami} invaded this 
State, and all confidence seemed for a time gone in our 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 17 

ability to beat back the foe, we learn the manner in 
which he met the trial, and how his fears were over- 
come. " I rolled on God," he said, " the burden of my 
country, and I rose from my knees lightened of my 
load, feeling a peace that passeth understanding — 
feeling that I could leave myself, my country and my 
all, in the hands of God." Oh, what a noble charac- 
ter was his. How we love to study it. How we long 
more and more and more, to imitate it. Great as we 
have seen in his devotion to his God, to his country, 
to humanity and to truth, Abraham Lincoln was a 
prince in a line of royalty that contains the best blood 
that God ever permitted to flow through the veins of 
fallen man. The words of Cardinal Wolsey to one 
whom England has likened in some respects unto 
himself, seem ever to have sounded in his ears, as 
though uttered by a voice from heaven, to indicate 
and prepare him for his fate. 

" Be just and fear not ; 
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, 
Thy God's, and truth's ! Then if thou fallest, O Cromwell ! 
Thou fallest a blessed martyr!''' 

Thou hast fallen, just and fearless one ! greater in 
thy devotion to truth, to country and to God, than 
Wolsey ever could have believed of man, or Cromwell 
ever was capable of being ! And thou art a martyr 
blessed! Blessed with the honors of Heaven, the 
smile of God, the gratitude of the rescued and the 



18 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

saved, and the love of the good and true, the loyal 
and the brave, in whatever clime thy name and thy 
history is known. We thank our God to-day for what 
thou hast been to us. 

II. But who was his murderer ] Whose the hand 
that dared to still the beatings of that noble heart, 
destroy the great champion of human freedom and the 
preserver of our national life, make desolate the home 
of pure affection and filial devotion, and plunge a 
whole nation into mourning'? Not that poor wretch 
who, now horror-stricken at the deed he has done, 
and the terrible penalty attached to it, seeks to escape 
the ministers of justice. He, indeed, was the tool, the 
agent in the execution of this diabolical act, and ought 
when found to be punished according to the atrocity 
of his crime. But he was not the inspirer. lie was 
not the soul of this murder. There were others a> 
much more guilty than lie. as he was more guilty than 
the pistol which he held in his hand. Both were 
niereh tools. \Vho set them to accomplish this awful 
deed \ Who used them \ lVrhaps you may Bay, the 
chief of the Southern traitors, and those who w ith hiiu 
devised this infernal plot. Bill can they truly l»e said 
to lie the murderers of OUT noble-hearted President [ 
ll;i\e we found the real culprit yet ( No. my friends, 

though all we have mentioned may be guilty, and I 
believe the) are of this crime, as well as the hundred 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 19 

others with which they are charged, yet the originator 
and the executer of this fearful murder is to be found, 
not in one traitor or in a band of them, but in that 
great Evil against which Abraham Lincoln battled all 
his life, and was sacrificed in attempting to destroy. 
It is the accursed Spirit of Slavery ; the sum of all 
villanies ; the mother of treason, arson, perjury, and 
crimes of every color and name; the fruitful source 
of most of our woes as a nation and the destroyer of 
thousands of immortal souls. This it is that struck 
down our lamented President. This it is that has 
added another to the long line of martyrs that have 
fallen to appease the insatiable thirst for blood which 
it has incited and inspired. It were not possible for 
the soil of America to produce a wretch so cow- 
ardly, so detestable, so devilish, as the reputed assas- 
sin of our late Chief Magistrate, unless possessed by 
this demon of wrong. It has given birth to the 
rebellion which has made our land wet with blood and 
strewn with the bodies of the slain. It has starved 
sixty thousand of our noble soldiers in the prisons 
of the South. It has carried sorrow into every heart, 
and darkened every home in our land. It has crushed 
out the very manhood of those whom God made in 
His own image, and Christ died to redeem. It has 
debauched the conscience of the South, so that the 
broad distinctions between right and wrong, virtue and 
crime, loyalty and treason, are not clearly seen but 



20 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

by few, the large proportion of the people upholding 
and defending upon the authority of Holy Writ, that 
which the plain letter of the law of God and man 
clearly declares to be a sin and a crime. It has cor- 
rupted public morals, tastes, sentiments and opinions 
in the North, greatly blinding it to the guilt of treason 
and the crime of rebellion: degrading many of its mer- 
chants into mere sycophants and slaves in their greedi- 
ness to appropriate its gains and share in its favors: set- 
ting up as models of excellence and as the true aristo- 
cracy of the nation, those who now do not refrain from 
every crime to effect their unholy ends: pouring con- 
tempt upon the humbler virtues when not redeemed 
by graces of manner, or the stamp of noble birth : per- 
verting the purposes and aims of life, and dishonoring 
labor. This is what slavery has done and is doing to 
destroy this land. Thank God that its power is not 
now as great as in days gone by. Thank God that he 
whom the nation now mourns, was permitted before 
his death, to grapple with this great evil as man never 
did before, and to crush out its life in many portions 
of our land. Thank God thai the Loyal and true men 
in our National and State halls of Legislation, have de- 
creed it s total destruction, and soon, it' we mistake not. 
so for as its outward presence is concerned, it will be 
set u ii" more on this continent. Bui it has a Spirit 

which will not mi casilv die. And it IS this Spirit, as 
We have said, which drank the life-blood ofoui 1'resi- 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 21 

dent. Here we find the real author and perpetrator 
of this horrid crime. This is the criminal which we 
arraign in the sight of high Heaven, and charge with 
this foul murder, and with the agony of heart that 
now is felt throughout our beloved land. 

III. How, then, may this cruel murder best be 
avenged, and our great and irreparable loss be made 
a blessing to ourselves and our country'? 

Dear friends, not by indiscriminate denunciation of 
all now in rebellion against this Government. Not 
by giving vent to feelings of hatred and revenge 
against even its leaders, red as are their hands with 
this the best blood of our land. No. There is a 
better way of avenging it. It is by destroying en- 
tirely and forever the Spirit of Slavery and all its 
most infamous progeny. Let the law deal with the 
mere tools and agents of this awful crime accord- 
ing to the severity which justice demands, — no less 
and no more. But let us, as citizens and Christians, 
deal with that which has inspired them. This Spirit 
of Slavery as we see it in the North, let it be crushed 
out, root and branch. Let us hate treason and rebel- 
lion with a perfect hatred, because they are sins 
against God and crimes against the State. Let us 
make such distinctions between the guilty and the 
innocent as truth and justice demand. Let us re- 
quire that the guilty and unrepentant be punished; 



22 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

but let us pardon and forgive those who have been 
misled and are penitent. Let us frown down the 
mean and sordid spirit that would barter away the 
true dignity of manhood for gold, whether it be ex- 
hibited in trafficking with Southern products, Northern 
manufacture, or the nation's life and credit. Let the 
model of excellence we adopt and imitate, be, not 
what slavery, but freedom produces, — freedom of body 
and mind and spirit — freedom, human and divine — 
such a magnificent exhibition of character as God 
gave us in Abraham Lincoln. Let us see for what 
end we live, and what God has placed us here to do. 

Oh, what a momentous time is the present to the 
young men of our country! What opportunity for 
noble effort, for a high development of character, for 
exerting great influence, and fighting glorious bat- 
tit s for truth, for humanity, for country and for God. 
Arc they doing it? Are they meeting the great ques- 
tions of the day with the seriousness and consideration 
which their importance demands I Are they placing 
themselves positively and clearly upon the side of hu- 
man liberty and equality, truth and justice, law and 
Loyalty, virtue and religion] Are they rising to the 
height of the demands of the years thai are coming to 
a nation which God lais preserved fur a great work, 
and iii which the_\ are to act a most important parti 
\re they preparing themselves for it by a lull dedica- 
tion to their Lord and Saviour as well as their country ! 



A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 23 

Would God I could answer these questions in the 
affirmative, even as regards the young men of my 
own beloved flock. There are some who realize these 
times as they ought. Some who knowing their duty 
solemnly meet and perform it. Others are only par- 
tially awake to their responsibilities and unfitted to 
do the work assigned them. They love their country, 
but they do not love their God. And yet it is only 
Christian men that God would have direct the glorious 
future of this people. They only are equal to the work, 
because it is a work that they only can do. We have 
not been baptized in blood for nothing, or to be what 
we once were. God, I believe, has saved us, that we 
may extend far and wide His Gospel, while advocating 
at the same time, by theory and practice, the cause of 
universal liberty and equality. Our mission as a people 
is the moral, social, political and religious elevation of 
mankind. 

Let us, then, appreciate our work and its responsi- 
bilities. Let us begin with our own personal infirmi- 
ties and sins, and seek to have them removed, — with 
individual aims, purposes, and positions, and seek to 
have them right. Let us take hold of every foolish 
prejudice and every false notion, and by the power of 
God, destroy their influence upon ourselves, and as 
far as we can, upon others. If we cowardly shrink 
from our duty, and say as did David, " These sons of 
Zeruiah be too hard for me," like him we may be 



24 A GREAT MAN FALLEN. 

called hereafter to lament our weakness, and suffer 
punishment again for our sins. 

This day, when the body of our noble and sainted 
President is in our midst, and our hearts are touched 
by feelings of grateful love, let us over his lifeless and 
disfigured corse, pledge ourselves to truth, to human- 
ity, to our country and to our God. And that we 
may do it aright, let us confess and forsake our sins, 
and trust and love and worship the Saviour, who hath 
bought us with His blood, and would present us to 
His Father without spot, clothed with His own most 
precious robe, and sealed with the signet of His cove- 
nanted and unchangeable love. 



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